Pederson has no issue “at all” with Graham’s voluntary absence

Defensive end Brandon Graham (55) is coming off his best NFL season, so Eagles head coach Doug Pederson is not worried that the veteran has decided to take a break from voluntary practices.
DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA file

PHILADELPHIA >> Doug Pederson is not worried “at all” by the absence of defensive end Brandon Graham, who has been portrayed as unhappy with his contract.

At a news conference Friday to kick off the rookie camp, Pederson said he’s spoken to Graham, who attended much of the voluntary practices before making a decision to take a break ... indefinitely, it appears.

“I love Brandon and obviously he and I have got a great relationship,” Pederson said. “He’s been here. And as you guys know this is a voluntary offseason program so a lot of this is out of my hands. But you know, he’s a guy that’s valuable to the football team and I’m not worried about him at all.”

Graham is scheduled to make $6.5 million in this, the third year of a five-year contract, and $6.5 million in 2018. He could make an argument for a raise as he has outperformed higher-paid teammate Vinny Curry, due $7 million this season.

Curry’s lack of production basically is why the Eagles selected edge rusher Derek Barnett in the first round.

Graham hasn’t responded to text messages. The way Pederson is spinning it, enough has been said. In past years the Eagles haven’t stood in the way when Jason Peters, Darren Sproles or Fletcher Cox exercised their right to take all or part of the voluntary workouts and informal practices off.

“He and I’ve had conversations, as I do with a lot of the players,” Pederson said of Graham. “And again, the expectation is would I like him here? Yeah. Is it voluntary? I got it. That’s the hardest part as a coach is when you’re working on that type of schedule, it’s hard. But at the same time he’s a guy that, a veteran player, understands his role, understands his assignments and we expect big things from him this season.”

It’s early for Pederson to commit to moving Graham from left to right defensive end, where he’s more comfortable and can set the edge.

The Eagles need to figure out where Barnett fits best.

Barnett got special teams snaps in the early portion of practice Friday. He worked like it was an adjustment from his days breaking the late Reggie White’s all-time sacks record at Tennessee.

Pederson touched on several topics during his presser, including the medical reports for second-round pick Sydney Jones, coming off a torn Achilles’ tendon.

“The medical staff is happy where he’s at but at the same time we’re not putting any kind of timetable on him,” Pederson said. “We’re going to do right by him and make sure he’s 100 percent before we stick him out there on the field.”

Pederson said defensive tackle Beau Allen is “doing well” in his rehab from a torn pectoral muscle. Ditto running back Ryan Mathews, who has a neck injury, although no one really expects him to return to the squad.

“Again, no timetable on either one of them,” Pederson said. “We want to make sure both of them are 100 percent and fully operational before we stick them back out there. But both of them are doing well and on schedule.”

Additionally running back Wendell Smallwood is healthy, according to Pederson, and “looking really good right now in the spring drills.”